Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · Jul 3

If the British left has a future, it’s in Faiza Shaheen

David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · Jul 3

If the British left has a future, it's in a reboot for the 2020s-2030s which identifies, invests in and elevates the UK equivalents of AOC, Ilhan Omar and Zohran Mamdani. Any hint of relitigating 2015-19 for the umpteenth time is something to be strenuously avoided.

Josiah Mortimer @josiah.writes.news · Jul 3

Politico reports that the left-wing grouping of independents in the Commons (Inc Corbyn) has been "formalising its operation lately, hiring staff to work for the group rather than individual MPs and debating how to go about potentially becoming a proper party." They're discussing a name (Assemble?)

1

Reposted by Janey Starling

Pluto Press @plutopress.bsky.social · Jun 24

“‘Demonstrations’ in the fullest sense of the word—proof of how many people these organizations could mobilize, and how militantly they could be mobilized”

@olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social author of Elite Capture, in @time.com

Why Protests Should Be Promises

Modern movements that aim to advance racial equity should withhold and promise, rather than perform, writes Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

time.com

1 17 45

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · Jun 24

Palestine Action knew that appeals to morality were pointless, that blocking the killing machine was the only way.

The government’s decision to ban them is an acknowledgement of how effective that strategy is.

Reposted by Janey Starling

David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · Jun 20

Reality has a well known anti-Israel bias.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Jun 20

BBC drops Gaza medics documentary over impartiality concerns

Corporation says talks over how to broadcast Gaza: Doctors Under Attack have ‘reached the end of the road’ The BBC has scrapped plans to show a documentary about medics in Gaza after concluding it “risked creating a perception of partiality” over the corporation’s coverage of the conflict. In the latest controversy over the BBC’s coverage of the war, it announced that discussions over how to broadcast the film, or incorporate some of its footage into its news coverage, had “reached the end of the road”. It said it was now transferring ownership of the project to the independent production company that produced it. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

6 72 300

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · Jun 13

I wrote about Dr Laila Soueif’s hunger strike to #FreeAlaa & why it’s always mothers on the frontline of the fight against prisons

@labour-hub.bsky.social

labourhub.org.uk/2025/06/12/r...

Rigged Justice: Laila Soueif’s hunger strike is a feminist call to arms

Janey Starling explains why Laila Soueif’s hunger strike to release her son imprisoned in Egypt raises broader questions about dehumanising incarceration, including in Britain. Dr Laila Soueif’s hu…

labourhub.org.uk

6 10

Reposted by Janey Starling

Jeremy Corbyn @jeremycorbyn.bsky.social · Jun 11

How on earth can the UK sanction two Israeli ministers yet — at the very same time — continue supplying weapons to the very government they serve?

The UK’s position is becoming more absurd by the day. End all arms sales to Israel, now.

34 360 1.1K

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · Jun 11

Prisons are institutions of power and control, they will never ever be caring places.

opendemocracy.net @opendemocracy.net · Jun 11

Women in prison ‘punitively’ restrained 424 times amid mental health crisis

Revealed: Dozens of women with mental health problems ‘stripped’ and made to wear ‘last resort’ anti-rip clothing

bit.ly

Reposted by Janey Starling

Arthur Webber 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 @bernietranders.bsky.social · Jun 6

They really are saying the quiet bit out loud now, fucking hell

5 96 450

Reposted by Janey Starling

Sadiah Qureshi @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social · Jun 1

One horrific headline after another revealing the tip of the iceberg of ongoing genocidal violence. All while the international community lets this continue despite the fact that the 1948 UN convention which outlaws genocide *obligates* states to prevent and punish genocide.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Jun 1

Palestinians gunned down while trying to reach food aid site in Gaza, hospital says

Witnesses say Israeli forces opened fire on people near distribution point run by Israel-backed foundation More than 20 people were killed on Sunday as they went to receive food at an aid distribution point set up by an Israeli-backed foundation in the Gaza Strip, according to a hospital run by the Red Cross that received the bodies. Witnesses told the Associated Press that Israeli forces had opened fire on people as they headed toward the aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). “There were many martyrs, including women,” the 40-year-old resident said. “We were about 300 metres away from the military.” Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

1 18 32

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · May 22

An ex-police officer built a mobile prison cell that tours primary schools so children can experience “prison life” and it’s called HMP Not-4-Me and this is the website and it’s not satire:

hmpnot4me.co.uk/our-programmes

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · May 22

Wellness fascism has reached its horrifying apex

1

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · May 22

Some hope from the Independent Sentencing Review. If the government are serious, they will divert funding away from prisons into communities.

2

Reposted by Janey Starling

HJA Civil Liberties @hjacivillibs.bsky.social · May 20

A Nottinghamshire police officer accused of banging a teenage girl's head on a vehicle and putting his hands on her throat has been sacked following a two-day misconduct hearing www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midland...

Midlands police officer accused of banging teen's head on car sacked

Kevin Markowski, 47, has been dismissed from the police force

www.birminghammail.co.uk

1 3

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · May 20

More harrowing accounts of women being cuffed to officers during childbirth. Every day there’s more evidence of why we need to end the imprisonment of pregnant women.

www.thetimes.com/article/8502...

Prisoners who gave birth in handcuffs sue Ministry of Justice

One of five women who went into labour while an inmate at HMP Bronzefield says she begged officers to remove her restraints in the hospital

www.thetimes.com

1 3

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · May 18

Completely normal and not in any way fascist police state

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Police could search homes and phones after pregnancy loss | The Observer

New national guidance suggests officers look for menstrual tracking apps or abortion drugs

observer.co.uk

2 8

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · May 14

It’s now confirmed that pregnant women fall into the scope of The Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill.

This means it is going to remove one of the very few, hard-won protections we have for pregnant women and mothers: the direction for courts not to sentence them without a PSR.

1 2

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · May 8

So moved by this song about mums in pre-trial detention that Fiona Apple released yesterday!

While the US & UK bail systems are different, the devastating impacts of holding mothers in prison are the same: losing housing, healthcare and children.

pitchfork.com/news/fiona-a...

Fiona Apple Returns With First New Song in 5 Years, “Pretrial (Let Her Go Home)”

Apple’s first original since Fetch the Bolt Cutters is a protest anthem advocating for jailed mothers who can’t afford bail

pitchfork.com

7 15

Reposted by Janey Starling

The Guardian @theguardian.com · May 7

‘The pain was worse than giving birth’: why are so many women separated from their babies in prison?

First they had to give birth in custody, then their babies were taken away. Sometimes they never got them back. Here’s what 29 women told the Lost Mothers Project

www.theguardian.com

6 18 73

Reposted by Janey Starling

Talia "AFAB" Bhatt ♀︎♀︎ @taliabhatt.itch.io · Apr 15

I want to talk about trans suicides and 'distress'.

Specifically in the context of this thread and the climate of sheer hostility that has been fostered by government policy and societal apathy towards, if not outright endorsement of, trans suffering.

Many folks chalk this up to "gender distress".

Jolyon Maugham KC @goodlawproject.org · Apr 14

Are Wes Streeting and NHS England covering up trans suicide data? 🧵

11 260 850

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · Apr 9

This is great. 💯 agree

1

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · Apr 9

A moving letter from a criminal defence solicitor representing a young mother of an infant, who explains the human cost of losing the new sentencing guideline.

“The justice secretary’s political point-scoring has devastating consequences”

@hodgejonesallen.bsky.social

3 6

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · Apr 8

This *finally* acknowledged the medical and psychological consensus on the harm prison causes to pregnant women, mothers and children.

The government knew this. It’s a little too on the nose to say they’ve thrown the babies out with the bathwater but they really have and it is despicable.

2

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · Apr 8

Very frustrating that, in a sentencing guideline that features 11 sections, Jenrick’s baseless intervention on *1* of them has dominated all public perception.

This guideline explicitly, and for the first time, directed courts to avoid imprisoning pregnant women & mothers due to the risks.

1 1 4

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · Apr 8

A clear-sighted editorial on the government’s posturing around pre-sentence report requirements in the new sentencing guideline.

It appears to be the first time anyone has acknowledged we have no probation staff to even write these reports anyway.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Guardian view on sentencing guidelines: rightwing politicians must not call the tune | Editorial

Editorial: The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, should reject false, inflammatory rhetoric and focus on the real issues

www.theguardian.com

1 4

Janey Starling @janeystarling.bsky.social · Apr 8

A clear-sighted editorial on the government’s posturing around pre-sentence report requirements in the new sentencing guideline.

It appears to be the first time anyone has acknowledged we have no probation staff to even write these reports anyway.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Guardian view on sentencing guidelines: rightwing politicians must not call the tune | Editorial

Editorial: The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, should reject false, inflammatory rhetoric and focus on the real issues

www.theguardian.com